


The Deserted Fortress

by Avalain_Nightshade



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Battle, Blue Mountains | Ered Luin, Friendship, Gen, Orc Attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28402278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avalain_Nightshade/pseuds/Avalain_Nightshade
Summary: Kira Nightingale used to be best friends with Fili and Kili, but that was before her sister ran away. Now they treat her like the annoying little sister they cannot stand. When, however, the three Dwarves notice an Orc close to their home, Fili and Kili sneak out to follow it; and Kira makes sure to tag along. Despite the danger, she swears to do anything to reconnect their lost bond.
Relationships: Fíli & Kíli (Tolkien) & Original Female Character(s), Fíli (Tolkien) & Original Female Character(s), Kíli (Tolkien) & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	The Deserted Fortress

“Kili!” I called pleadingly, jumping up to try and grab the rope swing. Kili had it in his hand above me and was purposefully dangling it just out of my reach. “Let me up!”

He laughed and yanked the rope up yet again. Every time I was close to grabbing it, he would leer and raise it higher. I glared at him as he stared down at me from his and Fili’s clubhouse. While Fili was nice and let me come up, Kili always claimed it as his and Fili’s— ** _not_** as mine or my sister’s.

“Fili!” I shouted. “Tell him to let me up!” Fili was atop the roof of the clubhouse, a telescope to his eye. He was looking for any Dwarf refugees coming to the Blue Mountains, at Uncle Thorin’s request.

In truth, Thorin wasn’t really my uncle; he was my godfather. But he always told me that he was as good as my father, and I as good as his daughter. Though I was glad for it, I thought calling him “father” was strange. So I called him “Uncle,” just like Fili and Kili. Meanwhile, those two were Thorin’s actual nephews. But Kili treated me like that annoying little sister he couldn’t **_stand,_** which was just wonderful, seeing how well he and Fira had gotten along before she ran away…

My face fell. That had been only a year ago.

I was brought out of my thoughts by another of Kili’s laughs. “What’s the password?”

“I’m going to get Uncle, I will!”

“Kili!” shouted Fili, not bothering to look at him. “Let Kira up, don’t be rude.”

I smirked as Kili scowled. But knowing better than to disobey his older brother, Kili let the rope drop. I smiled as I finally got hold of it—the coarse rope always gave me blisters, but knowing that I was allowed up made the pain tolerable.

It took me a couple of minutes to climb the rope. Kili used the time to shoot whatever he could my way. “Why are we letting her up again? She can’t even climb the rope! I personally don’t think weak little girls should be allowed up here… Kira, can you get any slower?”

After I was up, I shot Kili a look. In response, he just grinned.

“You’re so mean,” I pouted. “Why are you so mean? You used to be nice _._ ”

Kili laughed. “You haven’t always been nice to _me_. Remember last week? I came into your room without knocking and you threw a knife past my ear!”

“That was an **_accident!_** ” I wailed. “I apologized!”

“Yeah, after a fair amount of blubbering.”

“I could’ve **_killed_** you!”

“But you didn’t, and I’m never letting you live that down.”

“Kili!” barked Fili again. We instantly shut up, knowing that Fili wouldn’t be happy if we continued distracting him from his mission. He was always striving to make Uncle proud. “Come here.”

Kili shot me an ugly look that said, _Look what trouble you’ve given me **now.**_ But I watched with grim satisfaction as Kili swung himself up onto the roof.

Fili looked at him for a minute and then said, “Look out of the telescope and tell me what you see.”

I grew confused. Kili wasn’t in trouble?

Kili, looking rather smug about being asked for his opinion, took the telescope and allowed Fili to direct it to where he had been looking. For a moment, there was silence as Kili observed whatever it was through the telescope. But then he lowered it, swallowed, and nodded.

“That’s what I thought,” grumbled Fili, looking out of the device again.

“What is it?” I asked plaintively, struggling to swing onto the roof. It took me a couple tries, but eventually I was up there with them.

Neither of them responded, however.

I tried not to stamp my foot. They never trusted me with anything, and I was always trying to be decent to Kili, and nice to Fili…

Just then, there was a familiar voice from below. “What do you see, Fili?”

I grinned. “Uncle!” I cried, leaning out over the edge of the roof so he could see me.

Uncle Thorin smiled in reply. “I’m assuming Kili isn’t up there with you, Kira?”

“No, he’s here,” I said promisingly, shooting Kili a justified smirk.

Uncle chuckled a little and prompted, “And his older brother?”

Fili appeared next to me, the telescope in hand. But he was frowning as he said, “Thorin, I haven’t seen any more refugees… but I saw an Orc!”

Uncle Thorin scowled. “An Orc?”

"Yes, a scout! I gave the telescope to Kili to ask him if he saw it, and he did!”

Now Uncle laughed. “Fili, if you wanted a solid opinion, you should’ve asked Kira. You know how your brother gets.”

“Hey!” shouted Kili behind me.

Uncle Thorin ignored him—Fili, his eyes becoming wider, exclaimed, “No, Uncle, I really saw it! It had a telescope like ours and everything, it disappeared behind the giant fist-shaped rock to the north!”

I glanced at Fili. He certainly looked unnerved.

But Uncle Thorin apparently thought that Fili and Kili were just playing another one of their jokes. He frowned and said, “Fili, I have no interest in whatever stories you’re making up. Have you seen any refugees heading this way?”

Fili heard Uncle’s tone and knew that if he said anything else about the Orc, he would get in trouble. So Fili sighed, looked through the telescope again, and said, “There’s a family of four coming in from the west. There’s a Dwarf with a baby, and a girl of sixteen or so.”

Kili glanced at his brother sideways when he heard that last.

I tried not to roll my eyes—like he actually **_cared_** about any of the girls he spoke to. They just made him feel important.

Woe to any girl who fell in love with **_that_** thing.

Uncle Thorin smiled a little. “Thank you, Fili. Kira, perhaps you could come down to meet them? You may help show them around.”

But I knew what was underneath that message. He was thinking that maybe I could make a friend!

I frowned. I didn’t have many friends… before last year, my sister, Fili, and Kili were all the friends I needed. But then Fira ran away to avoid marrying Gzachman, prince of the Iron Hills. Because of that, Fili was no longer the Dwarf he used to be; he almost never smiled now. And Kili had changed too. Though he once doted on me, now he was rude and cold… he didn’t smile at me like he used to. Whenever I talked to him now, he would stiffen, clench his fists, and not look at me.

At least I had Graithon.

Graithon. I smiled, knowing that in only a month, I would go to the Mortal village where I spent my childhood, and I would run away with him.

This thought was what propelled me to say, “Yes, Uncle!” I shimmied down the rope, but not before hearing Kili and Fili mutter something to one another.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it had to do with the Orc they saw…

But I followed Uncle out to the front gate, where we waited for the family to arrive. Once they did, I showed them around, but it was clear from the start that the Dwarvish girl my age disdained me and everything about me, most likely because I was the adopted daughter of Thorin, and because I was supposed to be a peasant girl like herself, had fate been crueler.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That night, I tossed and turned uneasily in my bed. The stone walls were host to cascading shadows of the eerie moonlight. And in the darkness, I couldn’t help but think about the Orc spy that Fili and Kili saw.

If Kili only had seen it, I wouldn’t be worrying. But the fact that Fili noted it too made me uncomfortable.

Just then, there was a large clang outside my door.

I jolted in surprise and heard a hiss, a whisper.

“Kili, for Durin’s sake, we’re supposed to be sneaking out, not waking up Kira!”

“Oh, so what if dropped my bow? She’s a heavy sleeper anyway.”

I frowned. They were sneaking out? I immediately chucked the blankets away and hustled to grab my white shirt, my black pants, and my boots. Their whispers had faded by the time I’d seized my knife and my sword. Determined not to lose them, however, I pelted after them.

It took only a minute to see the lantern ahead and hear their whispers again. I started to run after them, waiting until I was only a few feet away before hissing, “Fili, Kili!”

There was the sharp sound of two swords being drawn, and I stopped dead in my tracks, realizing they were pointed towards **_me._**

"Whoa!” I gasped, holding my hands up.

Fili looked shocked; his sword lowered slightly. “Kira! What are you doing here?!”

“I could ask you the same question,” I retorted. “And I’d appreciate it if you could lower those, please.” I nodded towards the swords pointed in my direction.

Fili sheepishly sheathed his sword, but if anything, Kili pointed his a little higher, towards my throat. “Go away, Kira,” he snarled. “We’ve got enough to worry about without a little girl tailing after us.”

I frowned. “I’m not a little girl. I’m almost sixteen, almost your age! I know you’re sneaking out to hunt that Orc you saw earlier, and I’m coming with you. I’ve been training for five years—”

“Five **_regular_** years, Kira,” interjected Fili gently. “Not five Dwarvish years. There’s a large difference.”

I huffed and said, “Yes, that’s true, but it’s still five years more experience than I might’ve had otherwise.”

“But this could be dangerous,” replied Fili, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever we might be facing tonight could be more than you can handle. You need to stay here and be safe.”

“And let my only two friends risk their lives to see if there’s an Orc encampment nearby?” I questioned, cocking my head sideways.

Kili threw his hands in the air, his sword barely missing my nose. “For Durin’s sake, Kira, we aren’t your friends, and we’re going to do this alone! You’re only fifteen, and you’re a girl, with at least three years less experience than me, much less the five years less experience than Fili. You aren’t equal to us, so you can’t come.”

I tried not to let it show, but that hurt. I’d thought Fili and Kili were my friends. Were they not my friends anymore?

If anything, though, this proclamation made me that more insistent upon going. “If you don’t let me come with you, I’ll get Uncle.”

Kili snorted. “Go ahead. We’ll be long gone by the time he gets here.”

“Fine, then. If you don’t let me come with you, I’ll keep raising my voice until _I start screaming AND THEN EVERYONE WILL_ —”

Kili slapped a hand over my mouth and glared at me with loathing.

“All **_right!_** You can come! But if you get killed, never say we didn’t warn you!”

I smiled and nodded, glad that I had finally earned myself a grudging—if not belittling—place beside the brothers.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Somehow, we managed to make it past the front gate without being detected. The entire refugee camp was silent except for the snores of sleeping Dwarves. Once we were out, we made our way north towards the fist-shaped rock. 

“Look,” I finally murmured, once we were out on the rocky terrain. “I’m sorry if I’m irritating. It’s been a hard adjustment this past year. I’ve needed you two more than ever, but I guess I’ve been too annoying and clingy. So if I constantly bother you, I’m sorry.”

I looked at Fili out of the corner of my eye and saw him smile. “No, Kira, don’t be sorry. We have all changed since… last year. But that doesn’t mean it’s an excuse for us to be treating you as if you were below us.” He laughed a little then added, “I remember when you were the first to be shown the refugees from Kili’s telescope. Right, Kili?”

Fili’s tone of voice was a bit hard with that last.

Kili glanced down at me, my blue-gray eyes. He stiffened like he normally did, but the smallest hint of a smile came over his face. “I’m not cruel to you because I hate you, Kira.”

I snorted. “What, am I Fira’s replacement, then?”

He muttered something I couldn’t hear, something about my never being able to be a replacement for my sister.

What happiness I’d gained faded. “Well, if you think I’m not as good as Fira was—”

“No, that’s not what I **_meant_!**” shouted Kili, his eyes betraying surprise and anger, but Fili shut him up before he could continue.

“We’re here,” hushed Fili, pointing at the fist-shaped rock. Kili and I froze, waiting for him to make the first move… Fili carefully edged around the boulder and glanced down into the valley below.

“Oh, no,” sighed Fili. I waited for Kili to take a step forward, but instead, he gestured **_me_** to look first. Surprised, I wondered how long this unusual streak of kindness would last.

When Kili didn’t immediately step after me, however, I shot him a look. Was he all right? Wondering if maybe he’d forgotten why we were there—I wouldn’t have been surprised if that was the case—I whispered, “Come on, Kili!” I grabbed his hand and tugged him along.

I felt his fingers cutting off the circulation to my wrists, but I pulled him forward anyway.

Once I pulled him to Fili, I was able to see into the valley. I cocked my head sideways, a bit confused.

In the valley was a large square foundation that spiraled up into the sky. It blocked practically the whole valley, but there were no Orcs to be seen. It was clear, based on the ancientness of the building, that this thing hadn’t been built recently.

“Why ‘oh, no?’” I asked Fili. It just looked like a bunch of ruins.

“Because this is the perfect place for Orcs to come,” replied Fili. “Uncle scouted this area before he set up the refugee base. He said it was completely deserted, and that no Orc would come to it again. That makes this the perfect place for Orcs to regroup, because it’s so unsuspecting…”

I smiled up at Fili and said admiringly, “That’s pretty smart.”

Fili returned my smile, but when his gaze flicked to Kili, that smile faded. He nodded ever so curtly, so curtly that I almost didn’t see it, and focused his gaze on the Orc base again.

I looked at Kili then, who was gazing at his brother with a strange suspicion. When he saw me looking at him, though, that expression vanished, and he said, “I’m surprised the Orcs managed to be smart enough to piece that together.”

I grinned up at Kili, determined to get him back for once. I lightly shoved him with my shoulder and replied, “Well, you aren’t too much brighter than them yourself, and you would’ve pieced it together, huh?”

To Fili’s and my great surprise, Kili actually chuckled before shaking his head.

Rather relieved that we hadn’t started bickering again, Fili took a few steps forward and motioned us after him.

“After you, my Lady,” said Kili, bowing mockingly and gesturing me forward once again.

I frowned a little and repeated, “My Lady?”

“Yes,” he responded, greatly pleased that I didn’t seem to enjoy the new nickname. “After all, should you marry Gzachman one day, you shall inherit the throne, and then **_we_** shall be the Dwarves below **_you_** _._ ”

I raised my head a little. “After Fira left, Uncle called off any sort of engagement. And even if he hadn’t, I would have refused to marry Gzachman. I do not love him.”

Kili raised an eyebrow. “Surely, though, **_my Lady,_** your heart has been won over? You are, after all, marrying age.”

I snorted. “I am not worrying over marriage, of all things, at this moment. At any rate, I have refused all of Uncle’s suggestions for said matrimony and as kindly as I could rejected all proposals offered to me within the past year. As for my heart, perhaps it has been won over, perhaps it has not been. I leave that to you to figure out.”

Without any further conversation, I tiptoed down the slope after Fili.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The climb turned out to be rather difficult. More than once, one of us would almost fall down the slope, to be stopped by another hand. Though I’d had my fair share of near falls, I had to prevent Kili and Fili from tumbling down the mountainside a number of times as well.

Each time this happened, I worried if they were all right. Eventually Fili just laughed at my fussing and replied, “Kira, don’t worry! We’re just fine.” He smiled like he used to when he reassured me of this. It was a very comforting sight.

Eventually, we stood in front of the main entryway. Its metal gate was rusty and on the verge of collapse, and the foyer facing us from the open doors wasn’t much different. Spare bricks lay upon the floor, and moss grew on the sides of the walls.

It didn’t look very pleasant, to say the least.

“So… forward?” I asked the brothers, glancing at them.

They looked at me and nodded. “Right, forward,” they responded. “Might as well see if this place is inhabited or not. It might just be the one Orc spy, and then we can kill him.”

We walked into the foyer to see there were four doorways ahead. One was completely blocked off by a large pile of bricks, but the other three were wide open.

"Do we split up?” I asked cautiously.

“No,” Kili said sharply, glancing at me. “We don’t know what’s in here. Like Fili said, it might be more than you—or in this case, **_we_** —can handle.”

Fili nodded. “I agree with Kili. For right now, we’ll travel as a group.”

I smiled and giggled a bit. “You bunch of girls. This looks like fun!” I nudged Kili in the shoulder. “Next thing you know, I’ll be the one calling **_you_** a lady.”

Kili gave me an indignant look, and I giggled again before moving towards the doorway on the left. The brothers followed me, realizing I’d keep going whether they followed me or not.

Because just as Fili wanted to impress Uncle, I wanted to impress him and Kili.

The hallway we walked down wasn’t very long. After a minute, we were standing in some sort of dilapidated ballroom. The place wasn’t as ravaged as the foyer, but it was still rather awful.

“Still looks deserted,” I murmured, taking care to scout the ceiling beams for any unwelcome eavesdroppers.

“No,” murmured Fili. “Come over here, Kira.”

I lowered my gaze to where Fili was crouched and walked over to him and Kili. I crouched down to see what he was looking at—it was a large red stain over the brick.

“Blood,” said Fili, confirming my suspicions. There was a second large spot of it on the stone floor. He probed it lightly with his finger, and when he raised his finger up to the faint light, I saw that it was red.

“Fresh, too,” mumbled Kili, frowning. “This can’t be more than a couple hours old—it would’ve dried out.”

“Which means there’s someone here,” I finished, glancing around again. “Uh-oh.”

I whipped out my sword and faced the Orc that appeared in the doorway. Fili and Kili quickly followed me in withdrawing their weapons… but as I looked at this Orc, I realized it was a very strange looking Orc. It was smaller, and its face was a little more misshapen.

“Feast!” it cried. “FEAST!”

It leapt toward me, but I ducked. The creature hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, but in a flash it was up again. But this time, I was ready—it pounced again—

I was pushed to the ground; in my place, Kili swung his sword. The strange Orc’s head was cut straight off its body. Its head rolled around on the floor for a moment, and its body twitched for a couple seconds before it went still.

Fili offered me a hand to help myself up—grateful, I took it and stared at Kili. “What’d you do that for?” I asked. “I could’ve killed it!”

Kili glared at me, all previous traces of niceness gone. “You weren’t ready for it,” he grumbled through clenched teeth.

“I wasn’t—! I was ready, I had my sword and everything!” I exclaimed straight back. He really wasn’t helping; I was trying to impress him and Fili, to earn myself a place, but thanks to what he was doing, he wasn’t leaving me with much opportunity!

“Look, I just saved your life,” he retorted. “That’s all you need to know.”

Without any other words, he stomped off towards the next doorway, leaving me and Fili behind.

We stared at him as he walked off, and I shook my head. “Why did he do that, Fili?”

Fili swallowed once, but shook his head. Frustrated by this, I repeated the question, only to have Fili respond, “Listen, Kira, whether you believe it or not, we don’t hate you. We want to protect you, if anything, to prevent what happened with Fira a second time around.”

“What was that thing?” I asked Fili, gesturing to the severed head on the ground. Its eyes were still semi-open.

“That was a goblin,” he answered, his eyebrows furrowed together. “If Orcs are here too, either they’re allowing the other race to exist peacefully, or they’re uniting under one banner. Either way, it isn’t good…”

He rose too and then followed after his brother, leaving me wondering what Fili meant. Goblins and Orcs might be uniting? Ironically enough, that question didn’t bother me as much as the fact that Fili said he and Kili were trying to prevent me from following in Fira’s footsteps. If this was Kili’s method to keeping me around—being mean and not letting me take care of myself—he wasn’t doing much in his favor…

Graithon’s face entered my mind. A stab of guilt filled me. What Kili and Fili didn’t know was that I **_would_** be following in Fira’s footsteps in just a month. But then I started to think… would I be able to leave Uncle and Fili and Kili behind to be with Graithon for forty years, if we were lucky?

I thought about that deeply for a few seconds; then I decided. If Fira could bring herself to leave, so could I.

Just then, there was a shout. It was Kili’s.

I rose and sheathed my sword before sprinting after Kili, who might be in trouble… I almost skid to a stop, though, when I heard his voice proclaim, “It’s all right, guys! There’s just a large pit down here, turn around and go the other wa—!”

His voice suddenly cut off.

“ ** _Kili!_** ” I cried, bolting forward, sprinting to where his voice had been. Then the sound of metal clashing on metal emerged from further down the corridor, and I withdrew my sword before charging after it.

After a minute, I found Fili and Kili fighting back to back against eight goblins encircling them. They were doing quite well for themselves until I realized one of the goblins was sneaking up on Fili’s back.

" _NO!_ " I yelped, leaping forward and latching myself onto the goblin. It shrieked and whirled around, trying to find me, but I used its distraction to drive my blade into the top of its head. The creature squealed again and dropped out from underneath me.

I landed on my feet on the ground. It had been easy, killing something. A simple flick of the wrist, a force of a hand on a blade, and that was it.

The next thing I knew, I was engaging another goblin on the outskirts of the crowd. It was a bit bigger than the last one, but no less difficult to kill—I elbowed it in the face when I was in close enough range and thrust the sword through its heart. It fell with a snarl on its face.

I turned around just in time to see a blade hurtling my way—but Kili launched in front of me. The blade sliced across his arm, and he shout out in anger before retaliating. He used two swords to cut off the goblin’s arms, and then sliced off the goblin’s head, like he had done before.

That had been the last goblin. The rest were already lying on the floor.

I gazed at Kili uncertainly as he turned sideways and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. There was a short silence before I opened my mouth—

“What?” he asked sharply. “You’re going to ask why I killed it? Maybe because it was sneaking up on you. Why didn’t I let you die? Maybe because, like I said, I really don’t hate you?! Is that what you were going to ask me, Kira?”

I stared at him, hurt filling my eyes. Kili saw it and the anger in his own eyes diminished. Seeing this, I shook my head and opened my mouth to say the words I’d been **_planning_** on saying. “I was going to say ‘thank you.’”

That startled him. His eyes widened, and I stepped forward a little uncertainly. I started to move past him, but then I remembered the silver blade that had been flying my way.

I moved back and grabbed at one of the legs of my pants. I whipped out a knife and cut off a chunk of the fabric before standing back up and grabbing his arm.

“What are you doing?” asked Kili quietly, but I didn’t look at him in the eye. Instead, I just wrapped the black cloth around the cut on his arm and tied it up.

“Just trying to help,” I answered, lowering his arm after double-knotting the cloth.

Kili raised his arm and stared at the newly bound wound. I felt his eyes on me, but I didn’t look up at him. Instead, I moved back down the hallway I’d come from, because forward, as Kili had said, the pathway was a large pit, a trap.

The brothers walked after me, but this time around it was strangely silent except for our boots on the stone… But I got the most uncomfortable feeling—

Screeches broke the silence as goblins launched down to the ground from the ceiling behind us. They started pursuing us relentlessly, and Fili pushed Kili and I forward; “GO, get to the foyer! There’s more space for fighting there!”

“Are you nuts?!” shouted Kili in response, “There’s no way we’ll be able to win **_that_** fight!”

“At least if we reach the foyer we might get out of here!” I gasped in return. I was the fastest of the three—lots of practice from trying to get my knife back from Kili—so I grabbed Kili’s hand and pulled him along next to me. I was reaching back to grab Fili’s hand too, but a goblin jumped in between him and me, and Fili was forced to stop to fight the goblin.

"FILI!” we shouted, but we heard him shout in return, “KEEP GOING!” before he disappeared from our sight.

The goblins kept chasing us all throughout the hallway, but when we reached the foyer, Kili and I saw that goblins were blocking the exit.

Without stopping for hesitation, I pulled him through the door on the right.

That door soon led us outside. There were thorn bushes everywhere, and trees with dead leaves. There was no place else to go except straight through the bushes with the hope that the goblins wouldn’t follow.

"Go!” called Kili, pushing me forward. I grabbed my knife and cut through as many stems as I could, but the thorns were sharp and resilient, and I only managed to get through before pulling Kili after me.

We were only halfway through the forest of thorns when the entire body of goblins arrived. I glanced back and gasped; there had to be at least fifty of them standing around the edges of the thorn bushes, and based on the shadows moving from inside the fortress, there were more coming.

I pulled at Kili’s sleeve and cried, “Kili, what about Fili? How will he get out of there?”

But I received no answer. It was only a few seconds later that I heard, “Just keep going, Kira. Keep going.”

Knowing there was nothing else to do, I swallowed the lump in my throat and trudged through the thistles. I felt my skin tear, and I felt the thorns embed themselves in my flesh. The warmth of blood ran down my arms and legs, but even then I knew we couldn’t stop.

Even so, Kili and I were slow. The thorns proved to be severe obstacles.

When I looked back again, I screamed.

The goblins were gaining on us—they had decided to pursue us through the thorns after all.

That was when we heard, “Go! Get the filthy Dwarves!” The voice that issued this command was a bass voice filled with a terrifying raspy quality I never would have dreamed of hearing.

For the third time, I glanced back. At the outskirts of the thorn bushes was a most horrific creature… a mutant of the goblins. It was larger than the rest and it seemed to be in charge—even from fifty feet away I could see the wicked glint in its yellow eye, the smirk formed by its rotted teeth.

“Don’t look, Kira, just go!” yelled Kili, pushing me forward harshly.

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” I screeched, and I continued slashing at the plants in a futile attempt to make our passage easier.

We were almost out of the thorn patch when I heard Kili gasp. I looked back and saw two goblins grabbing his arms, pulling him back. Even more goblins were steadily approaching.

I shrieked and killed one, but before I could kill another, Kili shouted, “It’s no use, Kira, there’re too many! Get Uncle! Get someone!”

“But Kili—”

“ ** _GO!_** ”

The goblins continued to drag him backwards, and more had settled their beady yellow gazes on me. I was left with no other choice—though I felt like a terrible coward for leaving my two best and only friends in the clutches of dozens of goblins, Kili was right, there was no way I would be able to best them by myself. So I sprinted away, hoping to go get Uncle Thorin…

Before long, I lost the creatures. When I could not see any more, I hid behind a rock and panted, trying to regain my breath. My sword suddenly became unbelievably heavy in my hand… I doubled over, trying to stifle the sounds of my afraid gasps, because I’d just realized something.

I was alone.

Fili and Kili were captured.

And I had no idea where I was.

The discovery made me want to vomit, but I swallowed instead and glanced around, trying to figure out what part of the fortress I’d found myself in. Unfortunately, everything was unfamiliar. I didn’t recognize a single speck of the place.

There was only one thing for it; I would have to be stealthy and try to find my way around the fortress.

If I was lucky, I might find Fili and Kili and set them free…

The first step out from my concealment was hard. I knew that as soon as I moved, there would be no going back… But I had to rescue them. I had to.

So I moved, and I didn’t stop.

I explored the majority of the fortress, but it was deserted. I only heard a noise one time throughout the entire half-hour I crept around, and it had only been a gate opening on its rusty hinges far away. The sound had just echoed through the place was all.

Knowing, however, that where signs of life were, there might be a goblin to stalk so I could find Fili and Kili, I edged closer to where the sound had come from. When I peered around the corner, I saw a lone goblin patrolling the outside.

I smirked to myself. It probably wouldn’t expect me to approach it from the **_inside…_**

Quietly, I tiptoed over to the goblin. When I was only a few feet away from it, hidden behind a stone column, I leapt out and poised my sword at its neck. It exclaimed in shock, but immediately silenced when I dug the blade deeper into its throat.

“Be quiet!” I hissed. “Look, if you tell me what I want, I’ll let you go, assuming you run as far away from this fortress as possible.”

The goblin snarled at me, but nodded as best as it could.

“Good. Now where are my friends?”

It glared at me, but responded nonetheless, “In the basement, in the stone dome.”

“How do I get there?”

It was silent for a minute—to remind it who was in charge, I pressed my weapon ever so slightly into its skin. The goblin gasped before answering. “Behind a tapestry in the main room is a staircase. It will lead you there.”

“How many goblins are there?”

“About fifty. I don’t know exactly.”

Hearing this, my heart fell. Fifty?! Would Fili, Kili, and I be able to tackle fifty goblins on our own? Certainly not. While they could probably do it if Uncle Thorin was around, Uncle Thorin was **_not_** around, and I was not nearly as good of a warrior as him. Still, I steeled myself, knowing there was no other choice, and said, “All right, last question. What do you goblins want them for?”

“Ransom or bait. There are two things we would accept—payment for the return of his spawn or a chance to capture Oakenshield himself.”

This was not unexpected. And so, I shoved the goblin away from me and muttered, “Fine. Now go. Get out of here and do not come back.”

The goblin shot me a glare that could melt stone and turned on its heels, scampering away into the darkness. I watched it recede until I could no longer identify its silhouette.

Certain that I did not have much time, I sprinted back into the fortress and located the tapestry the goblin had mentioned concealed the staircase. Once I found it, I looked down into the spiral depths and took a deep breath.

If I was going to free Fili and Kili, I would need to be brave.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The descent into the basement of the fortress would normally have been just a little unnerving, but on my own, I was paranoid.

This was a real life-or-death situation, and I’d never been prepared for anything like this in my training. Neither had Fili or Kili, I expected, but they were still much more experienced than me. Of course, leave it to bad luck so that **_I_** was the one trying to rescue **_them._**

Once the stairs were gone, I heard loud drums sounding from the next room.

Carefully, I edged toward the open door and glanced inside.

The door I stood in front of led to a large balcony, which overlooked a large, circular room made of stone. I figured this was the stone dome that goblin had spoken of; I squinted to get a better look at what was inside.

The first thing I saw was the large mutant goblin sitting on a large chair, overlooking the rest. He held something that resembled a pitchfork in his hand, and he looked irritated as the other goblins danced hideously, as if celebrating. The drums were beating in a strange, syncopated rhythm that didn’t match up with the goblins’ dance. Despite their apparent joy, however, the large mutant goblin I’d seen earlier was looking rather grim.

“Oh, will you **_shut up!_** ” roared the Mutant; immediately, the noise ceased. “There is no time for celebration! What happened to the girl? Have you sent the message to Oakenshield?”

One measly goblin trudged up to the throne and bowed so low his nose might’ve touched the dirt floor. “We lost the girl, sire, but we have our scouts on the lookout for her now. She cannot possibly find the other two Dwarf scum here… And our messenger is on standby as you ordered previously. He is waiting for news of the female rat.”

"Send him immediately!” commanded the Mutant. “Quickly, before the She-Dwarf alerts him to what has happened.”

I looked around and noted that the balcony extended to where the throne-like chair was positioned. A smirk came over my face… I might be able to crawl over there and jump over the railing and onto the Mutant. That could be good.

Just as I thought this, however, something grabbed my attention.

As the fire flickered brighter than before, I saw the glint of metal. I gazed at it for a moment before realizing it was a large, iron ball, and that chains were protruding from it. I followed the chains with my eyes and was saddened to see both Fili and Kili surrounded by iron cuffs and links and chains, their expressions furious yet hopeful.

It would be tough freeing them. Maybe I **_should_** go get Uncle…

That, however, was when a few of the goblins jeered at what the Mutant said, and began cursing and throwing rocks at Fili and Kili. While most of them were wildly off their mark, one caught Kili on the face; even from afar I could see the streak of red on his cheek.

Undeniable anger consumed me, and I crouched to make my way to where the throne was positioned.

Once that was done, I listened for another split second as the Mutant Goblin screeched, “ _Why are you not searching for the girl?!”_

“Because I’m right here, filth,” I made sure to snarl as nastily as I could, and I leapt down from the balcony and sliced my sword towards him.

An unearthly shriek sounded throughout the dome as my sword cut through a good portion of his arm. Since he was incapacitated and much too stunned to attack me yet, I sprinted over to Fili and Kili and tried to cut through their chains.

When, however, it became obvious that that would do no good, Fili and Kili shouted, “It’s no use, Kira—quick, get out of here! Did you get Uncle?”

“I couldn’t find my way out of the fortress. Besides, I won’t leave you!” I shouted. Before they could assault me with groans and scolding, I turned back to the Mutant, who was glaring at me with loathing.

“ ** _There_** you are!” he bellowed, his wound all but forgotten. Black blood dripped from his arm down to the ground. “Useless female! I will not even offer Oakenshield a chance to reclaim **_you._** I will kill you instead!”

“You’ll have to catch me first!” With that, I barreled toward the Mutant, not bothering to register my sudden burst of bravery. When he stooped to grab me, I rolled underneath his legs, sprung up, and thrust my sword into the back of his calf.

The Mutant shrieked, its horrid cry deafening everyone within the room. But I couldn’t let myself be distracted—I had to seize my advantage while I had it. So when he toppled to his knees on the ground, I leapt up and shoved my blade into its back.

This time, only a faint gurgle exited his mouth. But even as the goblin fell upon the ground, it wasn’t dead, and I made the mistake to check and see if it was.

With a tremendous roar, he swatted me aside. My back hit the edge of his throne, and I heard something pop. A whip of fire trailed up my sword-arm, and I groaned, determined not to let that Mutant hear me scream.

All the same, I wouldn’t be bested now, not when I’d struck the first blow. It was severely weakened, and its minions were scrambling, trying to get swords to defend their master. Before they could assemble, I screamed in anger and ran towards the Mutant, dodging its feeble attempt to repel me and burying my sword into its skull.

The light in the Mutant’s eyes instantly died.

“Useless female, huh?” I sneered. “So much for **_that._** ”

I withdrew my sword to see it looked more black than silver. Despite my revulsion, however, I pointed it towards the miniature goblins and glared as scary of a death glare as I could. “Who’s next?” I asked, keeping my voice low.

The goblins all shrieked and struggled to exit the fortress, seeing as I’d killed its leader, the one who was supposedly the best at fighting out of all the goblins.

Once they were gone, I gasped and lowered my weapon. The fire whip was still lashed around my good arm—I transferred my sword to my other hand and ran back to Fili and Kili, both of whom were staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths.

“Kira…” began Kili, but I didn’t let him get farther than that before I interrupted him.

“You’d better stand up and stretch that chain out as far as you can, Kili.”

He did what I bade him to do; once the links were taut, I sliced them with as much strength as I could muster. Luckily, this time it seemed to work, because the metal broke at contact with the sword.

Fili cleared his throat then and said, “Uh, Kira? They keys are actually around the big one’s neck.”

I glanced at the goblin corpse. “Oh! Okay… Hold on.” I tiptoed over to the Mutant and turned my nose up at the hideous smell. I hadn’t noticed it previously because I was so busy fighting, but now it was glaringly obvious and it was disgusting.

As soon as I got the keys, I sprinted back over to my friends; they were smirking slightly at the repulsion on my face.

“Don’t laugh at me,” I scolded. “After all, I’m the one setting you free.”

With this, they sobered up. Once they were unlocked, I gestured them onward. “Here, follow me!”

Silently, we ascended the spiral staircase and left the fortress. I was quite anxious because of the quiet… But then a question entered my mind, and I decided to break that quiet.

Looking at Fili and Kili questioningly, I asked them as we began heading back towards home, “Does this mean I’m equal to you now?”

Both of them looked at me—there was a warm smile on Fili’s face while Kili just chuckled and threw an arm around my shoulder. “Ah, Kira,” he sighed, the kind smile that I hadn’t seen for so long, that I’d so missed seeing upon his face. “You were always equal to us.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we arrived home, it was a few hours after dawn, and Thorin was waiting for us. He was **_furious_** when we showed up, covered in dust and grime and blood. Seeing the raw marks on Fili’s and Kili’s wrists and noting the blood on our faces, he instantly demanded to know the entire story.

So we told him. We told him about the fortress, the goblins, how they’d ambushed us, how Fili and Kili were taken captive, how I rescued them.

Both of them were very animated when discussing how I’d leapt from the balcony to stab the Mutant—they were so energetic, Balin and Dwalin came over to hear what the hubbub was all about.

When his nephews finished, Thorin glanced at me. “Is it true, Kira?” he asked softly.

"Well… I mean, I wasn’t that heroic or anything, but… yeah,” I admitted sheepishly. “If I’d thought about it, I would’ve brought you the ear to prove it, but I forgot…”

Far from being angry like I thought, Thorin simply chuckled. “No need to prove it, Kira. I believe you. You are certainly strong and capable enough to do what has been told.”

I gained a spurt of pride hearing his praise. With a somewhat justified manner, I grinned. But when Thorin put a hand on my arm, I yelped in pain. Seeing his look of shock, I explained, “Uh… I might have broken my arm during my fight.”

With an exasperated sigh, Thorin turned to Balin, who was smiling at me. But when he saw Thorin’s face, he nodded. “I’ll go get Oin.”

“Thank you,” said Uncle Thorin, but then he was smiling again. “Well, I hope you three have learned your lesson about going on missions such as this. Next time you claim there’s an Orc, I’ll be sure to listen to you—but under no circumstance will you go inspecting another supposedly deserted fortress. Fili, Kili, your mother will have my head if that were the case…” After a moment’s consideration, he winced. “Actually, she’ll have my head **_now…_** ”

We couldn’t help but chuckle hearing that, because it was true. Auntie Dis would probably have a thing or two to say to the four of us once she got wind of the adventure.

Afterwards, Thorin walked away to go see where Oin was, leaving it as just the three of us. I glanced at them unsurely, wondering if they would stick around… I was shocked to see they were both grinning down at me with the same grins they would have given me a year ago, before everything had changed.

“Hey, Kira,” said Kili after a bit of silence, “would you like to come to the treehouse later?”

I gaped at him. Kili was inviting me to his treehouse?

“The treehouse?” I repeated blankly, wondering if I’d misheard.

“Yeah.”

“You mean… I’m welcome?”

Kili heard the tone of voice and nodded. “Sure, Kira. Fili and I can help you up, what with your arm and all. Right, Fili?”

Fili had a relieved smile upon his face. “Right, brother. Don’t worry, Kira, we’ll get you up there somehow. Maybe we can build a ladder…”

With that, we laughed and waited as Thorin and Oin arrived. As soon as Oin put my arm in a splint, I thanked him and said farewell to both him and Thorin before running after Fili and Kili so we could go look out for some more Orcs.


End file.
